Monday, October 29, 2012

It's getting really cold right now in Wisconsin. Our sweet little teddy bear puppy freezes her fur off outside. When we shave her down she really can't tolerate it. This makes for a hard time getting her to go outside to do her business.

Ah, Nala, my third child..... :-)
She is my shadow all day and night. Poor thing is sooooo spoiled!

(When we first got Nala she was a tiny little pooch! - a few weeks old)

It was really easy to cut out the pieces and I used some leftover Brewer Fleece I got back here from Fabric.com.

What I didn't like was the shoddy finishing they called for on the edges, simply fold over and zigzag?? Wow.

Since I was using fleece I didn't have to bother with any of that, but If I used something else I'd probably double flip the hem and sew.

Also, no matter what I did the darn arm holes would not line up right. I don't know what the issue was. Maybe the pattern had me cut the arm holes too big? I fiddled it together in the end and sewed it up. I also didn't want to mess with the collar because I was using bulky fleece so I sewed 3 sides of the collar pieces together and flipped them to sew to the main part.

(The "mom why are you chasing me around" look)

In the end it all came together o.k. The darn sleeves are slightly too tight on Nala though so she doesn't like it too much (she does have a broader little chest).

If I were to make it again I'd pick a cotton or canvas top fabric and fleece for the under part; cut two extra of everything and sandwich them all together.

Either way, this coat works for the time being (now I just need to find or make her some booties!!!)

Sorry for the blurriness. It was so hard to take a pic of her dancing while holding the camera and the treat!!!

It's not as thick a coat as the one below, but it was only a few dollars to make.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

I've completed the final costume! Whew. Just in the nick of time. I actually had this done on Thursday but Mr. T has been gone with a friend. He came home today and was thrilled with his costume.

The only problem now with both Miss K and Mr. T's costumes is that we are in Wisconsin... ITS COLD!

So I didn't use any pattern for this. I winged it all pretty much. You can't mess up too much with fleece.

Step 1. Tunic
I found a tank top that fits Mr. T just right, laid it on top of a double layer of fleece and cut out around the sides and top. I made it really long in the length until I could check the length while it was on Mr. T.

Then I flipped the top side over to mark exactly halfway (made a clip mark on the center fold). Then I cut the "V" shape for the front of the tunic as below.

Sew shoulders and sides, flip right side out. Measure on child and cut to the right length. Tunic is complete.

3. Belt. I just measured Mr. T's waist (24 inches) and added 1 inch. So I cut a 25 inch long rectangle of the brown fleece. I made this 5-6 inches wide, then folded it in half so the rectangle was about 3 inches wide and 25 long. I sewed the long side and flipped it inside out. then tucked in each end and top stitched. After that I added velcro. I took yellow felt and cut out a circle, then used black magic marker to draw link's design. I sewed it to the belt with matching thread. Belt done.

4. Hat.
(I swore I took pictures of this but I guess not ~ sorry).
I doubled the fleece again and cut out a triangle. Then I cut a band in green like the belt and tried it on my own head to get the size just right. I sewed the sides of the triangle~ leaving the bottom open. Then attached the band (wrong side of band to inside wrong side of hat. and flipped it up. Hat done!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

In 1986 I was 7 years old and lived for Rainbow Brite. I begged my mom to make me the costume for Halloween that year. She slaved over it and has never, EVER let me forget it!!

I would kill to still have this awesome costume.

Fast forward to present day and Miss K is 6 years old (almost 7). She tells me she wants to be Rainbow Brite for Halloween and my mom laughs.

Here is my attempt at making the costume with no "real" pattern. I sort of borrowed the basic layout of the dress from McCalls 6638 (View A, Size 8) and went from there. I also cheated with the rainbow arms and legs with clown socks! LOL.

Note to self: I will never, EVER sew with crushed panne stretch velour again. Hate it. Entirely.
Also, the pattern was either really awfully off, or my fabric didn't agree with it. The dress part turned out LONG as in almost to the floor so I hacked 8 inches or so off the length. Then, there is a TON of gathering in the skirt and sleeves (the panne hated this part). My poor serger really got a workout with this outfit. The bottom white layer is really fuzzy stuff (Micro Furry White); I was covered in it as was my machines and still is my sewing room!
Total cost of fabric (I have tons left over), bias tape, appliques, zipper, pattern = $16.70
Now that is a great deal! Oh! and the socks were $5 each pair so $26.70 in all.

The red part I muddled together myself as shown below:

I couldn't find a huge rainbow applique so I improvised with 2 smaller ones. I prefer the bigger one so maybe I'll look at Wal-Mart tomorrow.

I know it's been quiet on the blog front lately but I've been working on Halloween costumes.
The rainbow brite one is kicking my butt honestly. . .
I will prevail!

Miss K is going to be this:

And Mr. T is going as this:

I'll have them done in the next few days and will be sure to post them up here.

I've also been doing a lot of organizing in the home lately too. Yesterday I spent 6 hours cleaning and cleaning and cleaning the kitchen. Removing clutter is my new goal.

We are also starting to remodel the attic (it's not really an attic per say there are two bedrooms up there which were my mom's and aunt's when they were kids). Right now it is where all my storage junk goes so I need to sort, throw, donate, etc. We hope to have it done by Christmas to surprise the kids with a playroom!!! Wish me luck!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

I didn't want to do anything time intensive today because I have a paper due for class and I wanted to start Halloween costumes tomorrow.

I'm trying to find a great fitting pants pattern for Miss K so I can make her some cotton, flannel lined pants. So this pattern was a test pattern :-)

The monkey flannel I picked up from Wal-Mart's remnants. 1 yard x 45 inches wide. only $1.60 - works for me because it is so cheap I didn't care if I messed up!

The pattern I picked to try is Simplicity 2874 in View F. Simple and straightforward pants with two pattern pieces; you end up with 4 fabric pieces. (on a side note, I plan to use this pattern to make the dress in View A soon!). The pattern stated for 1 3/8 yard fabric in a size 8. I only had a yard but flipped one piece upside down to get it to fit. This didn't affect the crazy monkey pattern but if you had a directional print you may need the 1 3/8.

No frills pattern. Sew the front to back of inside legs, then crotch, then outside. flipped down waist, insert elastic, flip up bottoms and hem. Done. No issues and only took me about 1/2 hour from cutting time to finishing time.

I like the length and legs of these pants a lot. They have a slight flare to them. What I don't like is thatthe rise is not big enough in the back and too big in the front. The butt part is snug and there is bagginess in the front. I'm not sure exactly how to fix this. Maybe I should add more to the swoop part in back? I don't know yet. Either way the pants are cute and Miss K won't take them off.

Friday, October 12, 2012

I love fall! All of the colors, the cooler weather, the lack of humidity! I especially love drinking hot cocoa on chilly days and wearing layers of snuggly clothes!

I've had this corduroy owl fabric in my stash for quite some time now (since Jan 2012!); he's been laying around not knowing what I should make him into. In the meantime, Miss K has outgrown her adorable kitty tiered dress here. Kids grow so darn fast!

I picked up the navy corduroy at Hancock's during their big blowout sale back here because I knew exactly what to do with the owl fabric at that moment. 1 yard owl fabric; 1.5 yards navy fabric. Total cost of fabric: $17.92 (and I still have a bit of both left over)

This is one of my treasured patterns and it is so easy and fun to make. I love each dress it produces and Miss K goes crazy for the comfy-ness of them. Dad loves that they are age appropriate (so hard to find these days) and long enough. I think at this point, with this being my 4th time making this pattern, I could almost do it in my sleep! It was great working with the corduroy too.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Day 1 of Kids Cloths Week Challenge! I'm off to a great start!
I made this awesome shirt in one day (with many breaks).
I picked up this McCall's pattern Saturday at Hancock's for $0.99 and was anxious to start on it. I didn't really have any fabric in mind to use but then when digging through my stash I knew instantly.

I was stressed out at first because the pattern calls for 1.25 yards of fabric. I Frankenstein-ed two half yards and it worked perfectly! I used the gray mushroom for pieces 3 & 5 which are the main part of the shirt. They fit so perfect on the half yard! Then for the green I used pieces 1, 2, 4 & 6. The yoke, sleeves, and pockets.

I really love every bit of this fabric so I took extreme caution and time with this one. I pressed and re-pressed and double checked everything before I did it.

The pattern was wonderful. It walked me through each step and I didn't have any real problems. No complaints from me! I plan on making this cute shirt again, maybe in long sleeves.

Miss K loves the pockets!

Can I fit in it? Please? It's everything I love! Whimsical, mushrooms, green..... :-)
The fabric rocks. I got it from Fabric.com

They have the Gray fabric in Red and the green in a yellow. Those would be cute like this too!
Woodland Toadstool Houses Grey is the main part of mine
Woodland Toadstool Dots Olive is the green fabric. Both 100% cotton.